This weeks weigh in, Bokwa and eating healthily on a budget

Weighed in yesterday instead of my normal class on a Monday and I was up 1.5lb and to be fair I was expecting more as I said in the weekend blog that my hip caused me a lot of problems over the weekend which caused me to comfort eat, it wasn't crap that I ate but I was constantly eating and this can easily happen and come Sunday lunchtime I drew the line, I've promised myself that this week that I get back to basics, keep a positive attitude and set a good example for the people I inspire, since Boney's funeral the 1st week in June ive actually piled on 9lb how the fuck can I inspire people when I struggle myself so now it's back to the drawing board, start food prepping again and get back to the gym, my hip right now cannot handle a 5k without using Nordic Sticks and that basically means no treadmill, that's not a bad thing as I can walk to my gym(2.65km) do a little treadmill work and do weights and i'm incorporating Bokwa into my fitness.

On Monday, I participated in a charity Bokwa session with the Slimwithdan slimming world groups in aid of the Marie Keating foundation which fights cancer in Ireland in Finglas, beforehand I watched a few youtube videos on Bokwa and it looked fun. What is Bokwa?  It's a bit like zumba but you move to the alphabet while moving to the music and its high intense, total non stop for 60 minutes and you melt fat doing it, I burned 732 calories in a Bokwa class and I never done it before, most people's excuses not to go to the gym or an exercise class is that it's boring, I can tell you now that Bokwa ain't boring which is why after the session I made the decision to take it up on a regular basis as well as my traditional gym sessions and will be doing it on a Tuesday evening in the Liberties in South Central Dublin and have an option of doing it in Pearse St on a Friday also. You can burn more calories having fun doing Bokwa than spending an hour on the treadmill at 6km/h avg 5% grad and the Bokwa instructors made me and everyone who did the class very welcome and quite a few have decided to take it up.

When it comes to making excuses about not losing weight when they need to, join a weight loss group or incorporate a healthy eating plan is down to money, I did a weeks food shop today of lean protein (canned tuna,turkey, chicken and 98% fat free beef mince), fruit and veg, eggs and greek yoghurt for 35 euros, all on plan and I know what is going into my body now tell me you can't afford to eat right BULLSHIT, if I can eat clean on a budget so can you. Would you rather save money eating cheap processed foods or would you rather keep spending money on medication and doctors fees (it's 50 euros a visit in Ireland) because your nutrition isn't the best

The pic i'm posting was my calorie burn, avg HR and max HR during Bokwa

This weeks weigh in, a lucky break and hopes for the week ahead

Back in the real world after a few days in the beautiful island of Inishbofin and visiting my sister and finally got to meet my nephew's wife and it went well and after a week of dirty eating (5 days of fry-ups for breakfast, mountains of bread,1/2 pound burgers with 2 large deep fried onion rings to compliment, enough chips to run a chip shop lol and some mouth watering desserts) i'm only up 2.5lb but I also did plenty of walking (must have covered 40-45km) and that was a lucky break as I was expected to be up as high as 7lb. At the end of the day I cannot expect to be clean eating when I'm on my jollies and i'm fully entitled to eat what I want while I'm away and if people have a problem with that I don't really give a flying fuck, just because I'm fighting addiction doesn't mean I lose my right to enjoy myself when I pay my hard earned money to go away for a few days with Jenny,  I know mentally and physically I can claw it back and more because I want this and no one will stop me from achieving it.

As I said in my last blog that I'll be hoping to do a Pop-Up 5km in Naas on Saturday morning (depending on my hip but as of now I'm definitely up for it) and next Monday I'm doing Bokwa for charity, both are for the Marie Keating foundation on behalf of Slimming World who are always doing charitable things and i'm looking forward to it.

Have an A1 week everyone

This weeks weigh in, another breakdown and the future for me with exercise

Weighed in at a class in Donnycarney Monday just gone and the good weekend back home cost me a 3.5lb gain and I accepted that, only a good food prep minimised the damage but at the same time I'm only human and i'm entitled to enjoy an old favourite now and again and I don't regret a single thing as I know I can claw it back and I will do as I never doubt myself and was back on track straight after weigh in.

Did a 5.5km walk last night from home to Donaghmede and back via Darndale Roundabout and my hip gave in again clise to Kilbarrack Fire Station the same place I pulled up in February and I have to seriously think about the way I get my fitness in and I know my hip isn't able for 5km+ walks now but instead of only doing pool work and weights, I will still go walking but restrict to only doing 3km max and my gym workouts will continue but cardio will be 3x 15mins on the treadmill at 5.3km/h with a max of 10% and do full on weights (leg days will only be once a week not twice) and will look into Aqua Aerobics too. I will do the odd trek but only if I feel 100% on the day as I cannot afford to fuck up half way around a trek especially as I could be stranded.

I'm feeling ok mentally and i'm in positive spirits

The weekend, a non scale victory and hopes for tomorrow

Thought I write this as I'm heading back to Dublin from a weekend in London where I got to see 2 of my all time fave bands (Black Sabbath and Soundgarden) in London's Hyde Park and it was a bit of a test when it comes to food as I do go past temptations like Gregg's bakers, traditional pie n mash shops and other places where some of the damage that caused me to have this food addiction, one thing about me going to my slimming class and using social media and what I have learned is doing a complete food prep, this way I'm in total control and I managed to have some form of control while in London but at the gig venue, food prep went totally out of the window as 1. me and jen decided to have a full on lunch before going and 2. The security at Hyde Park were complete and utter bastards, you couldn't even bring a packet of chewing gum or a bottle of water without them confiscating it.

As for eating in the venue itself there was plenty of choices ranging from burgers, Mexican, Indian, pasta, fish and chips and even vegan food and most of the delicious offerings are not on my current plan so I was kind of forced to pull in a flexi-day and had the jalapeño burger, the good side to Friday was I got in plenty of walking and the same as yesterday when me and Jen went to Camden Market and Oxford Street and my hip was playing up so I sat down for a few minutes in Camden Lock and next to me there was a guy eating a Chimichanga (a deep fried burrito that tastes too damn good) and that was so unfair but I remained strong, did go for a Mexican in Chimichangas in North Finchley and I enjoyed it and I think I have done enough to warrant a weight loss tomorrow as my food was 100% throughout during the week, back exercising and got in some good sleep too (to me sleep is just as important as you can burn up to 300 calories an hour according to to the Jawbone Up band which I have, will weigh in at a class in Donnycarney instead as I'm travelling overnight and I want to get some decent rest before and I feel good mentally and physically and I will promise myself that no matter the result tomorrow I will jump off the scales with my head held high.

I finish off with a before and current photo of myself just to show the total progress I have made since December 2012 when I could only get into t-shirts in 5XL and 3XL football jerseys and now I can get into an XL no problem and treated myself to a Heisenberg Heineken shirt yesterday and I feel good in it, there is gonna be obstacles in any weight loss journey but it's totally up to you to rise above them and crush it

A slight change of plan foodwise

While I was in Cappagh Hospital yesterday, the doctor asked me what my normal diet was I was a little shocked that certain staples like acidic fruit, tomatoes, peppers and even potatoes were triggering my inflammation plus red meat (I do love a medium rare steak myself), the new plan is to still have the fruit and veg as it's vitally important regarding my weight loss plan but obviously limit it, as for red meat I'll probably only have a steak once a month  as a treat and when I have a chilli or a bolognese have it with extra lean turkey mince (all my chillies are done with turkey anyway), as for fizz I'll be phasing it out permanently, the main protein source will be chicken, turkey, fish and post-workout musclepharm combat protein shakes

If this helps me regarding pain and i'll be happy to continue, doing this on a 1 month trial and see if there is any improvement, also doing a food journal which all my instagram followers will get to see every evening, you can find me there @beavis420 as I find there is no negativity there unlike facebook (yes facebook can be seriously bitchy and I had to remove many comments and people because of it)

Today's weigh in and todays visit to Cappagh

Weighed in 2 hours later than normal because I had my first appointment at the Muscular Skeletal Clinic in Cappagh Hospital Dublin regarding my bastard hip and the news is that I have osteoarthritis on the right side of my hip which basically means the the joints attached to my hip and thigh bones are this fucked that the bones are touching together causing me pain and that I will definitely need a new hip as soon as I can, the only downside is that because of my age I will need a 2nd replacement in 10-15 years time but I now know what I'm getting myself in for.

Back to weight loss, weighed in and was 0.5lb up and i'm happy with that as I was dealing with constant pain and was expecting the worst so coming off the scale with a positive mindset and i'm ready to kick some fucking ass this week and I will come back from London (gonna see the legendary Black Sabbath original line-up with Ozzy himself) with a loss

Have an A1 week

Eating out/Takeaways while doing Slimming World and hope it brings

When someone starts off their slimming world journey and the discussion on how many syns you are allowed (a member gets 15 syns a day to use on treats like chocolate or other naughty treats while I normally use syns on my post-workout musclepharm combat protein shakes or a quest protein bar but have the occasional bar of chocolate or a bag of buffalo flavoured hunky dorys), when it comes to meeting friends for lunch or having a weekend takeaway you are normally limited unless you are willing to overload your syns and that could end up messing up your weight loss but thanks to the power of social media there is help, slimming world members tend to go for the safe option of getting chicken/beef in black bean sauce, boiled rice and a side salad and that would only use up 5 syns but my usual takeaway from the Chinese would use up a possible 2-3 days syns (salt and chilli prawns with chips at 40 syns) so I make my own fakeaway instead, recently Slimming World brought out a cookbook called Fakeaways and you can eat your favourite takeaways made from home and still stay on plan. This was a masterstroke by Slimming World and me and Jennifer has enjoyed some cracking meals from it.

Another problem while keeping to plan is eating out during the day and in the evening and now cafe owners in Ireland have took the initiative and started doing a slimming world friendly menu, I can name 3 cafes right now that do this as the head chefs/owners are members of slimming world, not only it's a good business move for them but it also gives members peace of mind when ordering food knowing they are still on plan and there is more cafes doing this now.

Finishing off with a pic of 2 meals me and Jennifer had this lunchtime courtesy of the Good Food Cafe in Newbridge owned by a girl who attends my own Slimming World class in Athy and has a huge range of Slimming World friendly meals on offer

The day after that horrible weigh in and my plans for the week ahead

After storming out of my slimming world class yesterday in a really fucked off mood, it would have been easy to go for a full on eating binge which is common with food addiction and I was very tempted to do so but I did go out and buy a white chocolate magnum but thats how far it went, did it feel good afterwards? Yes and no it was good to actually eat my fave all time ice cream but I drew the line immediately and I didn't binge at all and I have my beloved Jen to thank for that.

Today I'm gonna try seek pain management from the doctor in order to get this bastard pain in control and do something to control my mood swings because this weekend was the final straw for this, I need to use new ways of stopping me from being cranky and in constant pain but at the same time I'm carrying on with this journey so I can have a better quality of life.

Other than the pain I'm in positive spirits and is looking forward to this week and what it has to offer and I will be hitting the gym regardless of how much pain I'm in as the gym makes me feel good

Thought I end the blog with a before and current pic just to remind me how far I have come and that this ain't no sprint but instead it's a lifestyle change and when I see people get disappointed with 0.5lb or a 1lb loss it pisses me off because to me it's a possible result and it's a step further to your goal and throughout my journey I've had these kind of losses and I've always been happy with the losses

This weeks weigh in and my current struggle with arthritis

I weighed in at a class in Donnycarney today as I was in too much pain to travel on the bus to Athy and today I wish I just took the day off and weighed in tomorrow elsewhere as I was up 4lb and the girl that weighed me in was a bit rude to me saying 'ohh you've put on 4lb' in the tone of voice that in my eyes it's unacceptable, of all the times I weighed in at a slimming world class, the weighers all had dignity and respect for the person who has paid their money to weigh in, I already had a shitty weekend dealing with my hips and the constant pain I'm going through and that makes me feel shitty because I can't do fuck all about it and not even the strongest painkillers can take the pain away from me.

After my facebook status when I said I was raging after weigh in I was inundated with goodwill messages telling me it's gonna be ok and to keep going and that is what I aim to keep doing, I can place a bet with Paddy Power right now on how many begrudging pricks out there laughing at me right now but this is only temporary because I promise each and every one of those fools and the good people that support me that I will fight back and that me storming out of a slimming world class before image therapy which I always stay behind for is a one off

A big special thank you to an inspirational woman for the nice chat this afternoon and you know who you are and look forward to meeting up for coffee next week

The rise of cheap fast food and one politician's quest to stamp it out

The past few months through social media I've been speaking out against the likes of Centra, Eurospar and fast food outlets currently offering cheap lunches and this morning I woke up to a whatsapp message I recieved from my girlfriend regarding an article in this morning's Irish Daily Star which is a breath of fresh air for me as Senator Catherine Noone wants to crack down on these outlets selling fried chicken baguettes for €2.50 and the artery blocking 1250 calorie breakfast rolls for €3 and upping the price of these, these are the same outlets that RIP YOU OFF when it comes to buying healthier options like fresh salads where I believe Centra can charge up to €4 for a salad, the power of Slimming World in Athy has created a huge effect for fast food joints in the town and now some chippies are selling food half price to encourage folk to get takeaways, going back to the the likes of Centra, it seems like schools are not serving up healthier options in school cafeterias which is why kids are going for the fried chicken baguettes and the greasy wedges.

I just hope that Catherine Noone backs up the smack and do something about the ever increasing obesity epidemic thats diseasing Ireland right now and take on the likes of McDonald's, Subway, Centra etc, around 60% of the population are overweight and that includes me but I'm doing something about that, i'll probably always be considered overweight because of the bullshit BMI but as long as I'm healthy, fit and happy the BMI can kiss my East Finchley arse

The week so far

Thought I write a blog today as right now I'm feeling good in myself right now and my motivation is high up right now which is a good thing and I need to keep it going especially now the World Cup is about to start but I have plans in place for the gym so I don't need to miss many games.

Started training for the Great Pink Run at the end of August and thats going well right now and I want to get between 15-20lb down by then.

Ending this blog with a photo I just posted and thanks to Megan who posted it on Instagram and thought of me :-) as an overweight guy I was always looked down like a piece of shit especially by Polish lads who would hog the weights and have no respect or consideration for others and I left one gym because of their pisstaking and spoke out in another gym over this, just because I ain't a bodybuilder it doesn't give them the license to be a selfish, pisstaking, inconsiderate arseholes and that I pay my money to workout and I have the right to use weights, one thing I love about using Parnell's is there is no stigma attached and that I'm respected by others because I'm doing something about improving my quality of life and i'm sometimes surrounded by elite athletes YES I said elite athletes

Enjoy the football and the weekend and good luck to my girlfriend who is doing the Hell and Back race this Saturday

This week's weigh in and the exploitation of quick fix companies preying on the overweight

Weighed in at my regular 3.30 class for the first time in 3 weeks and it was good to be back to a normal routine and Operation 9lb Fuck Off which I called the next 3 weeks of my plan is going nicely with a 5lb loss this week and i'm really happy with that too, and to cap it off I managed to pick up my man of the year award that I should have got 3 weeks ago but couldn't pick up due to being away in London, another award to my collection but to me thesr awards are just a bonus as my main objective is to get the job done and live a normal life.

As you all know social media is a powerful tool when it comes to weight loss and healthy living and there is people who will exploit the vulnerable to make a quick few quid for themselves and i'm mentioning 'Crazy Wraps' 'Secret Diet Drops' 'Herbalife' and 'Juice+' as the main culprits in the bullshit quick fixes who promises results in super fast time, to me it's all a pack of fucking lies and i'm having these twats bugging me on Facebook and recently Instagram and I decided to speak out when a friend who I met on Facebook who has lost 12st (168lb) on the slimming world plan (in my eyes the safest weight loss plan out there as you eat proper food on this and some opportunistic scumbag selling Juice+ stole her before and current photo and added a smoothie and these jokers will use any dirty tactic to promote their product.

If you want to lose weight safely, the only way to do it is to eat right and get active

Have a good week

Visiting my old gym and my hopes come weigh-in

I always enjoyed working out in the K-Leisure in Athy and I do miss the place so when I get an opportunity to workout there I jump at it and I always seem to have a monster session when I go there. I have a new way of working out and it seems to work well for me

Will get in another session tomorrow and it's the evil leg day back in Parnell's GAA club in Coolock and then going out for dinner with the gf tomorrow evening and I normally make good choices and i'm hoping to pull back some of that 9lb gain on Monday and even if it's only a 0.5lb loss I'm happy

Enjoy the weekend ������

Visiting my old gym and my hopes come weigh-in

I always enjoyed working out in the K-Leisure in Athy and I do miss the place so when I get an opportunity to workout there I jump at it and I always seem to have a monster session when I go there. I have a new way of working out and it seems to work well for me

Will get in another session tomorrow and it's the evil leg day back in Parnell's GAA club in Coolock and then going out for dinner with the gf tomorrow evening and I normally make good choices and i'm hoping to pull back some of that 9lb gain on Monday and even if it's only a 0.5lb loss I'm happy

Enjoy the weekend ������

This weeks weigh in and relapsing

This happened to be the worst week I had since rejoining slimming world as my normal positive attitude and resisting temptation went out of the window and my food demons came back with a big fucking bang and I paid for it big time with a 9lb gain, there's no excuses why this happened and I have only myself to blame for this and now it's up to me on how I approach this week. I may have had a lot on my plate but I also need to watch what passes through my lips and not let these bastard demons get the better of me.

Today's blog is a brutally honest account on how food addiction plays with your head and the consequences it could have, yet there is arseholes who think they have the license to insult and poke fun of people who are overweight or battling food addiction but they probably only do it as they have either a small cock and need an ego lift or just plain ignorant.

I will tackle this gain and hope to get a big chunk of it down and being back home with the gf will help too, have a good week everyone

This weeks weigh in and the horrible attitudes towards obesity

Had an early morning weigh-in today in Palmers Green (a suburb in North London) and I maintained (stayed the same) which is still positive but I could have got a better result especially as I put in a mammoth effort but I'll use this week to get that good loss I'm craving for just to kickstart it again and I'll be back at my normal class next week when I return to Ireland directly after Boney's funeral which is on Monday in Worthing.

The past 3 days I've seen a disgusting attitudes towards obesity in social media and I really can't understand why people think obesity and food addictions can be funny and I pulled one arsehole on facebook over a tasteless pic and his attitude was 'fat people are disgusting and that only lazy cunts and slobs go to weight watchers, slimming world and other clubs' and this angered me because I battle through pain physically and emotionally to lose what I have done so far so I blocked the loser along with the melt that was tagged. And after watching the US version of Obese A Year to Save My Life and a 35st guy losing his battle with food addiction and the damage it was doing to his young family I decided to challenge people on Facebook if you find this funny delete me, I did the same thing 6 months ago and 2 people did delete me and one of them is a coke head loser with no self respect, heard from a 3rd party a few months ago that 2 lads was talking behind my back saying I'm wasted going to Slimming World and that only women and queers go to weight loss clubs and if I was a real man I'd instead get hammered and have a bunk up with a brass afterwards well for those narrow minded fools, Slimming World is for everyone who needs it's service and I feel very welcome when I attend my class

Rant over and lets get the loss I want next week

A setback regarding my pending hip replacement and my plans for the next 2 weeks

As you probably know one of the reasons I'm kicking obesity in the bollocks is that I need a hip replacement on the right side thanks to arthritis and i'm been on the list for 20 months now, recently switched hospitals due to me moving to Dublin but then I found the attitude and antics of Cappagh Hospital a total disgrace, 1st they claimed they wrote to me and rang me on numerous occasions and then decided to discharge me and that I had to return to my GP in which I did and to my GP's credit he worked hard in trying to sort it out and sent emails to Cappagh and I did the same only to be told that the surgeon getting his messenger to say I don't fit into his criteria to warrant urgent assistance well I bet if I was some rich slag or one of those filthy low life heroin infested scum I would get seen, to add insult to injury Mr Connolly's lapdog (Mr Connolly is the melt that thinks I don't need urgent assistance) suggested I go private if I really need to get it sorted and I told her one thing I don't have 6 grand plus to burn in my pocket and don't insult my intelligence.

This is one of many cases of a corrupt messed up state Ireland is and when you have a lazy, lying snake of a health minister running the health service where  junkies get everything handed to them and unless you're rich or have health insurance, the normal Joe Public gets screwed

On a good note, i'll use this to drive me forward and tell the likes of James Reilly and Mr Connolly and his cronies that their sort won't beat me, yeah I'm in constant pain but I have something these prawn sandwich twats don't have and that I have the heart to succeed.

In London for a couple of weeks for tomorrow FA Cup Final as my beloved Arsenal are in it and then Boney's funeral and give him a good ol Millwall send off, will be weighing in as I always do and going to the gym as I did pack my pre-trainer and protein in my case

Have an A1 weekend all

Weigh In

Went to my regular class today at the GAA club in Athy and was up 1lb but instead of moaning and bitching about it, I'm instead using this as motivation to get my arse in top gear and kick some fucking arse, the next 2 weigh ins will be in Enfield and Palmers Green in London, I have the privilege of carrying an Irish and a UK card so I don't have to use up any holidays (I will use them the moment I get a date for my hip replacement but thats down to Cappagh and it's inept admin/surgeon staff to do the right thing and yes I am frustrated in their attitude towards me)

I hope to lose at least 2lb next week and will be good to weigh in with Charlene again

The Darkness Into Light walk and a Pre-weigh in

As I mentioned in an older blog I participated in the Darkness Into Light 5k in Malahide Castle in aid of Pieta House that helps people dealing with suicide, self-harm and mental health issues and I believe not enough is done to combat this

It was chaos at the event and the actual walk was delayed 20 mins due to traffic coming into Malahide Castle itself but it was a superb turnout even know I thought parts of the course was either too narrow or dangerous due to rain on Friday, did the walk in just over an hour but this wasn't about smashing PB's, this was supporting people affected by suicide and other things affected by mental health issues and I will be doing this again next year, it also hits you for 6 when I saw people doing the walk with photos of loved ones who decided to end their own lives

Back to normal, I weigh in at my usual class at the Athy GAA club this afternoon and feeling confident despite a 5 day week and any result this week will be dedicated to a good friend who lost his fight against the scumbag disease otherwise known as cancer RIP Keith Bone gone but never forgotten

The week so far and tomorrow's Darkness Into Light 5k

A short week this week but things are going nicely food wise so far and not even been craving chocolate or cake or the usual shit that lead to me being morbidly obese so I'm delighted with that, getting my sweet hit from fruit and a quest protein bar I got from a sports nutrition shop in Clontarf and today has been clean so far also with porridge with a scoop of PhD diet whey strawberry protein and fruit for breakfast, pasta salad and a bag of beef jerky for lunch and this evening a friday night fakeaway of extra lean burgers, salad and a gluten free wrap and finish off with some fruit.

In just over 9 hours from now, I will be participating in the Darkness Into Light 5k walk for Suicide Awareness in Malahide Castle which has become a yearly event all across Ireland, I'm very much looking forward to this and my 2nd major 5/10k this year after the Great Ireland Run a month ago, I maybe doing a trek Sunday but won't know until tomorrow

No cheat meals this weekend as I normally weigh in on a Monday